Garment waistband construction



April 3, 1962 B. B. RUBY GARMENT wAIsTBAND CONSTRUCTION Filed Deo. l1. 1958 JNVENTOR. BURTON B. RUBY United States Patent O` V3,027,566- GARMENT WAISTB t DCONSTRUCTIONV BurtorrB. Ruby, Edgewoodrlnd., a'ssignort to Jaymar- Ruby', Inc, Michigan' City,v Ind.,'.a corporationL of Indiana A Filed Dec. 11, 1958, Sei'. No. 779,705

1 Claim. (Cl. 2 237) This invention relates toV garments provided with means for adjusting the waistband. Y l 1 Mens slacks, womens` skirts, childrens pants, and the like, are often providerl'withadjustable means` forconstrictingthe waistband. When theI waist of the garment is properly adjustedto'the' waist ofthe wearer, the garment hangs fromtits waistband, :and does not need to be supported by ya belt.

Conventionally, these'waist adjusting devices consist of a pair-of strapsV sewntothe outside of the' garment waistband, and provided with= means for fastening the two straps together. One well known arrangement is to provideon'e strap with 'a buckle through which; the other strap'passes and by whichit is retained, the waistband of the garment being constricted by drawing7 the' two straps together. Some of these devices permit adjustment in very small increments, but it usually is something of a nuisance to loosen the buckle and move the strap to adjust the waistband to a new position. A more convenient arrangement is to provide one strap with a metallic ring or the like, and the other strap with a button and a few button holes, or a few snap fasteners, so that this strap can be passed through the ring on the other strap and fastened back upon itself in two or three predetermined positions. The principal disadvantage of this construction is that nice adjustments cannot be made, the user being limited to two or three predetermined sizes at the waist.

The present invention improves upon the previously known constructions by completely eliminating buttons, buttonholes, snap fasteners, buckles with teeth, tongues or moving parts, and by permitting the waistband to be constricted with fine adjustment to the smallest increments of positioning, and simply, quickly and easily.

This is accomplished by providing the inside of one of the adjusting straps with two facings of self-adhering fabric, and using said strap in conjunction with 'a conventional strap provided with a ring or closed loop of metal, plastic or the like.

It is com-mon practice to place friction pads on the inside of trousers and the like, to help keep the shirt tails from working up out of the trousers. The present invention, in one of its modifications, contemplates the use of a somewhat simil-ar pad of soft rubber, felt or the like positioned on the inside of the waistband so that it is separated from my new waist adjusting straps only by the fabric of the waist of the garment itself. In this location, the body of the wearer presses against the pressure pad, which in turn presses against the two adhering facings of the waist adjusting strap, thereby keeping the two facings securely fastened together. The inner surface of the pressure pad in addition functions as a conventional friction pad.

Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a Waist `adjusting construction which eliminates belts and buckles, lies flat against the waist, and is easy to manufacture and to use.

The present invention will be better understood from a consideration of the `annexed drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the top part of a garment, such as a pair of mens slacks or a womans skirt, embodying the instant novel waistband combination;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion adjusting straps, one at each side.

3,027,566 latentedv Apr. 3, 1 962 ofthe garment, taken at the waist-adjustment means, along line 2 2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGUREV 3 is a fgragmentary View, partly in cross section, taken along` line 3 3 of FIGURE 2, showing the cooperating fastening-.portions locked together;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary View, partly in cross' section, taken alongline 4 4 of FIGURE 2, showing the cooperating fastening portions in opened position; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary elevational view of the `side adjusting` straps, laid flat in` open position and passed through the loop with which it cooperates.` y

Referring now more particularly tothe drawing, FIG- URE`1 illustrates the waist portion of a garment 10, such as a pair of slacks or a skirt, and illustrated as having a side pocket 11, a back pocket 12,l and afiy closing strap 26. The garmentl is provided with 4two sets of waist Each set consists of a conventional strap 18 sewn or otherwisesuitably fastened to the outside of the garment waist at 16a and having fastenedto it a conventional closed loop 17 of metal, plastic or the` like. The yadjusting strap 15 is passed through `the metal-loop 17 and folded back upon itself with the folded end adjacent the garment waist, as is better shown in FIGURE 2. Said strap 15 is sewn or otherwise suitably fastened to the garment waist at 16.

The inside of adjusting strap 15 is provided with a selfadhering facing, which may consist of one or more Surfaces having the necessary adhering properties. A suitable facing is the velvet type fabric described and claimed by George de Mestral in U.S. Patent 2,717,437, patented September 13, 1955. Preferably, and as shown in FIGURE 5, two separate facings 13 and 14 are employed. For example, and as shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the facing 14 may have a raised nylon pile 21 severed to provide a very large number of resilient hooks. The facing 13 may be of similar material, so that when the facings 13 and 14 are pressed together, they are held together by intermeshing of the hooks. However, facing 13 may be of any material to which the hooks 21 will adhere. It is a characteristic of facings of this type that when pressed together they resist sliding movement relative to each other; yet they may be readily pulled apart. Since any portion of facing 14 will adhere to any portion of facing 13, the waist adjustment may be made with any desired degree of exactitude. In FIG- URE 5 the metal loop 17 is shown between the two fac ings, before facing 14 is `bent over upon facing 13. By pulling the adjusting strap 15 farther through the metal loop 17, the waistband of the garment is .made narrower.

In FIGURE l a second set of waist adjusting straps is shown in broken lines on the side of the waist opposite the rst set of adjusting straps.

As shown in FIGURES l-4 inclusive, a pressure pad 20 is sewn or otherwise fixed to the inside lining 19 of the garments waistband 25 immediately next to the region of contact of facings 13 and 14 so that the waist of the wearer exerts pressure in the direction indicated by the arrows 24, 24 (FIGURE 3), which is transmitted to the facings 13 and 14 and thus serves to keep them pressed together even more iirmly.

Since said facings 13 and 14 strongly resist sliding movement relative to each other, the waist adjusting mechanism does not yield in response to the breathing or other movements of the wearer, but vremains firmly in place, thus tailoring the waist of the garment nicely to the waist of the wearer. However, when the garment is not being worn, or when the waist is unfastened at the fly closing strap 26, the coacting facings 13 and 14 may readily be peeled away from each other for the purpose of establishing a diiferent degree of waist constriction.

FIGURE 3 shows the working elements in locked instant invention is a substantial improvement over previ- Aously known waistband adjusting devices. It eliminates the use of buttons and snap fasteners, which are sometimes broken or rendered useless during laundering or ironing; replaces buckles having tongues or sliding toothed gripping bars, and instead employs a simple closed loop of metal or the like; is easy land inexpensive to incorporate in garments on a commercial scale; is convenient and easy to use; and presents a very neat appearance.

What is claimed is:

Means for finely adjusting the waist size of a garment, said adjusting means consisting of a loop, means connecting said loop to the outside of the waistband of said garment, and a strap having one end connected to said outyside of the waistband yand another end normally free, said strap having a first adhering portion adjacent said connected end thereof and a second adhering portion between said free end and said first strap portion, said second adhering portion being extendable through said loop and foldable into facing adhering relation with the lirst adhering portion, said adhering strap portions being inseparable in response to a force exerted substantially perpendicular to said strap-and being separable in response to a peeling action, said free end of the strap being adherable with any point on the rst adhering portion of the strap, and further comprising a resilient pressure pad attached to the inside of said waistband and in alignment with said first strap portion.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Journal of American Medical Association, October 18, 1958, page 930, column 2. (Copy available in Div. 24- Velcro Digest.) 

